Paul VanDeCarr is Managing Director and Co-Founder of Working Narratives. He has spent much of his career using storytelling to build relationships, make connections, build understanding, and communicate ideas. Paul recently started a podcast called Who Are You in which he reaches across some sort of divide to find commonality with someone who may otherwise be considered …
Category Archives: Podcast
Vivek Patil: Bridging Political Divides in a Contentious Election Season
“There are so many people that just want to be heard. They want to have a voice. They love their communities.” Vivek Patil, director of outreach for the Arlington County Democratic Committee in Virginia, keeps this simple truth in mind. His Civity-based approach to community building has helped him bridge divides with people to find …
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Vincent Pan, Giving Marginalized Groups a Seat at the Table
Conversations can be a first step to understanding another person, finding common ground, and beginning to work toward solutions to community problems. But conversations rarely take place in a vacuum. Vincent Pan, executive director of Chinese for Affirmative Action (CAA) SF, told This is Civity Podcast that conversations can be infused with history and often …
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Liz Joyner: The Village Square
Liz Joyner, executive director of The Village Square, says the work of collaboration does not begin once there is a problem to be solved. To be successful, that work must begin well before any problems arise, in the simple building of relationships. Joyner tells This is Civity Radio Show that relationships help build empathy and …
Joan Blades: Living Room Conversations
Joan Blades, co-founder of Living Room Conversations, sits down with This is Civity Radio Show to discuss the importance of sitting down with people you disagree with to build empathy and common ground, and to embrace the hard but valuable work of collaborating to make our communities and democracy stronger.
Katy Birnbaum: Sunday Streets SF
Urban environments such as San Francisco offer many activities, services, and amenities. But if people do not know about them or how to engage, they can feel isolated or cut off. Katy Birnbaum, community organizer for Sunday Streets says Sunday Streets encourages people to be more active, make healthier choices, and take advantage of public …
John Esterle, The Whitman Institute, with Malka Kopell
John Esterle, co-executive director of The Whitman Institute, joins Civity co-founder Malka Kopell to discuss the critical role of philanthropy in support of projects that build relationships to help bridge divides and strengthen communities. Photo by: Cambodia4kids.org Beth Kanter (CC BY 2.0)
Martha McCoy: Everyday Democracy
Everyday Democracy Executive Director Martha McCoy discusses how we can address issues of privilege, social justice, and equity through Civity-building.
Malka Kopell & Palma Strand, Civity Co-Founders
Civity co-founders Malka Kopell and Palma Strand join us to discuss their work, why they decided to create Civity, what they hope to accomplish, and what Civity is working on now.